


You Gave My Life Direction

by CelesteFitzgerald



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Canonical Character Death, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-03 00:12:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16797556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelesteFitzgerald/pseuds/CelesteFitzgerald
Summary: When you're born, you receive a compass with a needle that constantly points toward your soulmate. No one knows exactly how they work, but somehow you and your soulmate are destined to be together, and no one can change their fate.That is, unless you have a very convenient semblance.





	You Gave My Life Direction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SevenCandlesticks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SevenCandlesticks/gifts).



When Pyrrha first received her compass, she didn’t understand why it was so important. She tried her best to pay attention to the story her mother told her: each person had their own compass, it always pointed in the direction of your soulmate, one day it would lead Pyrrha to hers—an interesting story, yes, but it didn’t feel any more real than the other fairytales her parents told her.

She did check her compass every now and then, staring at the needle for a few moments, waiting for it to do something. Still, it just sat there, pointing the same direction it always did. Maybe it would take a while before it led her to her soulmate; there was no use fretting over it. So she threw herself into her studies and her training and let the soulmate search take the backseat.

Then she met Jaune.

He was different from the others. He saw her as a person, an equal, a friend. She wanted to get to know him better. Becoming his teammate and his partner was a dream come true, and the more time she spent with him, the more she came to like him.

She surprised herself when she realized that for the first time in her life, she found herself truly wanting to look at her compass. With Jaune in her life, the concept of soulmates didn’t seem so foreign anymore. Sure, she knew it was a long shot, but the thought of her needle pointing straight at him made her smile.

While her teammates worked on their homework, she opened her closet and dug out her compass from inside a box of other things she never used. Her hands quivered slightly as she held it level and waited….She shook the compass, trying to unstick the needle from that strange angle about thirty-five degrees to the left of Jaune.

Surely the needle had to be stuck. Right?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She wasn’t sure how her teammates got on the subject of soulmates, but she hoped they’d quit talking about it soon. Still, she politely listened and pretended to be okay. It shouldn’t hurt this badly; she’d only known Jaune for a couple of months. But in that time she’d really fallen for him and she couldn’t stand to think that it wasn’t meant to be.

They took turns telling their stories. Ren and Nora had a unique situation: Ren had lost his compass when he was young, and Nora couldn’t remember ever having hers. They didn’t seem to be too bothered by it, though. Nora went on and on about the excitement of being able to be with anyone she wanted.

 _Yeah, anyone who didn’t already have a soulmate_ , Pyrrha thought. When they asked her about her own compass, she just giggled nervously and said something about not having checked it recently.

Then the conversation turned to Jaune. Apparently he didn’t check his compass often either, and he had only checked once since they’d arrived at Beacon—unsurprisingly, Weiss wasn’t his soulmate.

Being her typical curious self, Nora asked to see his compass. To Pyrrha’s disappointment, he had no problem with sharing. It was painful enough seeing the universe’s denial of her feelings the first time; she really didn’t want to see it again.

Yet, despite all logic, there was a tiny piece of her holding out hope. It wasn’t unheard of for some soulmate matches to be unreciprocated. Maybe she could still be Jaune’s soulmate, even if he wasn’t _technically_ hers. And sure, when she eventually met her own “soulmate” she’d be expected to spend her life with them, but she’d always been one to defy expectations; she and Jaune could still make things work.

At least, they could _if_ she actually turned out to be his soulmate. She waited anxiously as Jaune dug out his compass. As he walked back over to them, her mind was racing. _Let it be me, let it be me, let it be me_.

The four of them leaned over his compass, watching as the needle stabilized…

And pointed straight at Pyrrha.

She gasped and her hands flew over her mouth. _Is this for real?_

Jaune and Ren looked just as shocked as she felt, and Nora had a smug grin on her face. Just to be sure, Jaune moved the compass back and forth a couple of inches. It never wavered from Pyrrha.

He looked up from his compass and smiled at her. Looking into his gorgeous blue eyes, she couldn’t help but smile back. She couldn’t believe this was actually happening; it seemed far too good to be true.

Ren and Nora gave the two of them some alone time to talk, and when Jaune asked her out on a date for tomorrow evening, Pyrrha felt like she was in heaven. She got into bed that night with a huge smile on her face.

It wasn’t until she noticed that she was much more exhausted than she should have been and that her aura had somehow become partially depleted that she realized what she had done.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dating Jaune was amazing. It was everything she had ever hoped it would be. They had gone on long walks around campus, gone out for dinner many times, and tonight they brought a blanket up to the roof to look at the stars. That’s when he asked her to be his girlfriend.

She said yes, of course. Nothing would make her happier. Well, nothing except maybe being in a relationship that wasn’t based on a lie.

She hadn’t meant to move his needle. It wasn’t her fault that her desperate wishes to be Jaune’s soulmate had led her to use her semblance; it was an accident. And anyways, they were both so happy now. Surely it couldn’t have been so horrible of a thing to do if it meant seeing Jaune smile this much.

…Then how come every time he smiled at her she found it harder and harder to smile back? She hated keeping this secret, she hated lying to Jaune—to her boyfriend. But what would he think of her if he knew the truth?

No, there was no way she could tell him. It wasn’t a very difficult secret to keep, anyways. Moving the tiny needles on their compasses took such a low amount of effort, it was no big deal to use her semblance for those few extra seconds a couple times a week.

Like right now. Jaune pulled out his compass again, and she pulled out hers. (She had gotten into the habit of carrying it around.) She placed her hand on his as they looked at their compasses pointing right at each other. He had told her once that he found it comforting to just look at his compass whenever he was having a rough day. She wished she could say the same.

After a few more minutes, Jaune decided to head back to their room. Pyrrha told him she’d meet him there soon, then she sat out on the roof a bit longer. Looking down at her compass again, she released her hold on it and watched as the needle spun on its own to point toward someone far in the distance.

And she let the tears fall.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pyrrha didn’t know what to expect when Professor Ozpin had asked to meet with her, but she sure wasn’t expecting this. As she walked through the vault, dozens of questions flew through her mind; there wasn’t nearly enough time to ask them all.

Then she saw her: the current fall maiden. Pyrrha’s mind was in a haze as she listened to the professors’ story about half of Amber’s power being stolen. It was horrifying to think that someone would mess with the natural transition of the maiden’s power like that. To try to change fate.

Despicable.

And now they were asking her to do the same thing. To risk giving up her identity to protect the world. It felt wrong, transferring one person’s aura into someone else’s body. It wasn’t meant to be that way.

Then again, that had never stopped her before.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Do you believe in destiny?”

She hadn’t intended on asking Jaune that question; she didn’t know what type of answer she wanted to hear. There were just too many thoughts running through her head and it was too much to bear alone.

Of course, Jaune misinterpreted her question and started talking about soulmates and how they were meant to be together, which certainly didn’t improve the situation.

She tried to clarify, saying something about goals and hard work. The more she spoke, the crazier she sounded. It was all way too much. Why did this have to happen to _her?_

Then Jaune—sweet, beautiful, strong Jaune—kissed her. He held her close in his arms, supporting her. He said that he believed in her, that she couldn’t let anything stand between her and her destiny. Even if the world made it difficult or told her that it wasn’t meant to be.

The tears started falling. First they were tears of joy: Jaune was right, it didn’t matter if the world told them they weren’t soulmates, _they_ knew they loved each other and _that_ was all that mattered. Then she recalled the conversation with Professor Ozpin and she broke. Jaune was still right, she knew he was. She couldn’t let her fear get between her and her destiny. She knew what she had to do. But even if she remained herself after the transfer, she’d have such a huge target on her back that anyone close to her would be in danger, and she couldn’t do that to Jaune.

She was going to have to leave him, wasn’t she?

Her hands flew up to cover her mouth as she continued to sob. Jaune stepped toward her, asking her what he did wrong. _Nothing_ , she thought, _you’ve been perfect. You’re way too good for me._

Then she lost control. It was only for a second, but that was all it took. She looked up to see her semblance pinning Jaune against the wall, his face contorted in pain and fear.

She felt sick.

After releasing him, she did the only thing she could: she ran.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pyrrha sprinted with Jaune away from the school, desperately trying to escape from where that woman was fighting Professor Ozpin. She knew it was pointless, though; she could never escape the guilt. This was all her fault. If she had just informed Professor Ozpin of her decision earlier, that woman wouldn’t have found them and the transfer could have been completed in time. Or during the tournament, if she hadn’t…if…if she hadn’t kil—

Jaune grabbed her shaking hands. She gasped, looking at him. He wanted to know what had happened. And she wished she could tell him. She wanted to tell him everything.

But something rumbled from within the school, ascending to the top of the tower. Ozpin had lost. Pyrrha didn’t want to believe it, but he must have. Jaune looked at her, his mouth gaping.

This couldn’t be happening. The tournament was supposed to be a celebration of unity and peace, but everything had fallen apart. Hundreds of innocent civilians were in danger because of the mistakes that others had made, and it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, none of it was.

But…but she couldn’t let that stop her. Jaune never gave up. Jaune stayed strong and believed in his dream no matter what. Now it was her turn to stay strong, for him and for everyone else. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, looking up toward the tower.

Jaune followed her gaze, then clutched her hands tighter. He wanted her to stay. A part of her wanted to stay with him too, but she knew it was too late. She pulled him in for a kiss, ingraining every aspect of the moment into her memory. She loved him so much.

They pulled apart, and she reached into her pocket. She placed her compass with the needle that had never truly pointed to him into his hand.

“I’m sorry.”

She wasn’t his destiny. She had her own destiny. But more importantly, he had _his_. And he was going to do great things.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Deep in the forest, Jaune slashed his sword through the air, fighting the enemies only he could see. Ruby, Nora, and Ren were still fast asleep, far enough away that they couldn’t hear his screaming. His arms were burning, his legs were shaking. But as he listened to the recording of Pyrrha’s voice, he found the strength to keep going.

During a break, he noticed himself reaching for his pocket where his compass used to be. It was going to take a while to break that habit. They had never been soulmates, he knew that now. They were more than that. Without the help of the universe, they still managed to find each other and fall in love. No one could take that from him.

He rewound the video and started from the beginning again. It still hurt to see her face on the screen and know that it was the only way he’d ever see it again, but seeing her smile made it hurt less—especially her smile while she giggled at the 32-second mark. That was his favorite part.

Exhaustion was constantly on the verge of setting in, but he still persisted. This was his destiny, to become a hunter. He’d never forget that one conversation with her. He still didn’t fully understand everything she had been talking about, but he had come to understand her views on destiny. She was right, destiny wasn’t fate. Destiny was a choice, the cumulative effect of thousands of actions, and each day he got one step closer.

He finished another round of exercises and collapsed. He set his sword and shield on the ground on either side of him. As he watched the rest of the video for the seventh time that night, he absentmindedly traced the new design on the hilt of his sword where two tiny arrows were pointed at each other. The metal was cold yet comforting, a reminder of what had been lost yet was somehow still there.

The video ended again, and for that one second when the screen went blank his heart froze until it rewound once more. Taking a deep breath, he heaved himself off the ground and readied himself for the fight. He picked up his sword, clutching it tightly. With Pyrrha by his side one way or another, he’d make sure they accomplished their destiny together.

**Author's Note:**

> Angst angst angst angst angst. 
> 
> Special thanks to my friend SevenCandlesticks for encouraging me to write this idea, and for reminding me to keep going whenever I started procrastinating :P


End file.
